Top Five Kiwi Adventures

We chose to barbecue New Zealand rack of lamb for my final dinner in Rotorua, and we paired it with a fabulous bottle of 2005 Clearview Estate Merlot Malbec - a gift from one of Tom's associates (the Frenchman - Bertrand Jauffret) . This is one of the few bottles of wine we've opened since December requiring a corkscrew because most New Zealand wines are screw tops (which I will dearly miss). We used this dinner hour to nominate and elect our Top Five Kiwi Adventures. Not surprisingly, our lists were in pretty much in sync:

• White Island Volcano
• Helicopter tour of Mount Cook
• Waitomo Caves (Blackwater Rafting to see Glow Worms!)
• Bay of Islands (especially the Cream Trip and cruising through the Hole in the Rock)
• Hawke's Bay Wine Region (afterall, we went 3 times)

Runners Up:
• Whitewater Rafting on the Kaituna River - world's highest commercially rafted waterfall - 7 metres - Grade 5
• Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland and, of course, Mud Pools
• Climbing Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park

The list of stand-out adventures could go on and on, reminding me I am SO glad I documented most of them by writing a blog. I want to remember our unforgettable time in New Zealand!

Tomorrow we will fly back to the United States to celebrate Sam's law school graduation. Between crossing the international dateline and traveling for nearly 24 hours, we will live May 12 twice. I'm counting on it to be a good day.